Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro - the last part of our two months trip and definitely one of the highlights! As mentioned before, we never ever planned to do this climb and were wondering all the time why other tourists actually pay loads of money only to suffer a lot while trying to reach the peak of this 5,895 m high mountain...
Anyways, that was the deal: We decided to climb the mountain via the more difficult (=steeper) Machame route (also called the whiskey route versus the easier coca-cola route (=Marangu route)) since it was supposed to be the most scenic one and also very good for proper acclimatization to prevent altitude sickness. We were really scared of getting altitude sickness, so we did everything to prevent it and also added an extra day to our trip (7 days instead of 6) which would be spend at around 4000 m. Along the route there were no huts to sleep in, so camping was the only option (no problem for us, we were used to that by now!).
Since we weren't prepared at all for a trip like this and only had one sweater and one raincoat each, we had to borrow a lot of stuff. But then we were prepared with gaiters, sleeping bags, woolen hats and winter coats and ready to go!
Day 1: Machame Gate (1,738 m) to Machame Hut (3,018 m)You cannot possibly imagine how nervous we were!!! We wished the drive from Arusha to the Machame Gate would never end, but obviously it was over way too fast... When we arrived at the gate, there were other tourists, all looking in very good shape and highly motivated with brand new equipment - so we felt even worse! But now, there was no way back!
This is our personal stuff only. Then we had to bring tents and food for all of us, too. Our group consisted of two people (Natalie and I), two guides (Mathew and Mathew) and seven porters. I am really torn about the idea of having porters mainly because I feel bad if other people have to carry my stuff and usually they receive only very little pay and aren't treated appropriately... Anyways, you have to bring at least three porters each when you want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and at least it offers them an opportunity to earn a bit of money.
Believe me, I was not as happy as I look, especially after reading point 4 and remembering my alleged pneumonia...
The first break and we are still alive! Actually, we soon became very happy about the fact that we were the only tourists in our group since we could walk as slowly as we wanted to. On the first day, we passed through beautiful montane rain forest with a dense vegetation. We had some steep climbs on the way and covered more than 1,300 m of altitude but since Mathew was walking really slow we had no problems at all!
After approximately five hours, we arrived at our first campsite and felt really relieved that we at least didn't have to turn around on the first day already :-)
Although it was only the first (and lowest) campsite, it got really cold pretty soon and Natalie already put on (and slept in!) all the clothes she brought.
Day 2: Machame Hut (3,018 m) to Shira Campsite (3,756 m)
Although we only had to cover about 800 meters of altitude that day, we climbed up really steep ways all day long...
There were less and less trees and bushes along the way and the scenery turned into some kind of moorland at the end of the day.
This is Mathew, our first guide. He is 35 years and has been a Kilimanjaro guide for over twenty years now!!! We estimated that he must have been at the peak for more than 240 times by now - unbelievable... When he started to work as a guide at age 15, he was the youngest Kilimanjaro guide ever. Two years later, in 1989, there was the 100 year anniversary of the first ascent of Kilimanjaro (in 1889 by the German Hans Meyer) and a marathon (!!!) up the peak was organized along the Marangu route. Mathew won the marathon and for a distance that is usually covered in five days, he only needed 17 hours!!! The runner-up needed 24 hours.
The clouds constantly passed our way.
Here are the steep climbs I mentioned before. Unfortunately, they didn't stop after a few meters but went on for hours (but I guess that's a common problem when you try to climb a mountain and have to overcome several thousand meters of altitude :-)).
This is Shira Campsite, where we stood the second night. Fortunately it cleared up later in the afternoon and we could see Kilimanjaro for the first time!!!
Uhuru Peak, which is the one with 5895 m that everybody tries to reach, is on the right side.
View to the other side of our campsite: we were actually above the clouds!!!
Our tent in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
And then we had this beautiful sunset - how much better can it get?!?!
Our campsite the next morning - this gives you an imagination how cold it actually does get at night...
Day 3: Shira Campsite (3,756 m) to Lava Tower Site (4,400 m) to Barranco Campsite (3,972 m)
Day 3 was very important for the acclimatisation since we climbed up pretty high but then went down several hundred meters for the night.
Of course, a day like this has to start with a good breakfast:
Natalie in our "eating" tent. Since we were on a budget tour, we didn't have a fancy tent with chairs and a table where you could actually really sit in, but we still enjoyed every delicious meal we had :-)
Not to mention the hot chocolate!
Most of the porters carry their big bags on the head. By today, there were nearly no plants left along the way (but loads of rocks) and we started again with a relatively long and steep climb. Today, however, we did feel the lack of oxygen from the very beginning and we thought we would never make it to the Lava Tower site. It was OK in the end but we constantly had to make sure that we drank enough water (although you don't feel thirsty at all...) and ate many snacks.
Lava Tower! From where we took the picture it was an altitude of 4,400 m. If you decided to climb up the tower (which our guide said was quite risky), it would have been 4,560 m.
There are three people in the picture, can you see them? (This should give you an idea about the distances!)
After the small hill you see in the picture, the trail exclusively descended for more than two hours... By now, I started realizing that not the ascent to Mt. Kilimanjaro would be painful but rather coming down!
Natalie and I with a 750 year old Senecio. Some of these plants were older than 1,200 years!
After more than 7 hours of hiking, we finally arrived Barranco Campsite, where we stood for the third night.
Later in the afternoon, we were rewarded with another stunning view of Uhuru Peak.
Day 4: Barranco Campsite (3,972 m) to Karanga Campsite (4,200 m)
Day 4 started with a challenge: we first had to climb up Barranco Wall, and it really involved climbing! I am still amazed how the porters with their big bags managed to get up the wall, since I would have been lost without two free hands to actually support the climbing. Once on top of the wall, we had amazing views in all directions.
Above the clouds again...
After climbing up Barranco Wall, we had to climb down again (you can see our trail deep down on the picture) and then up again and down again and up again...
But before, we could even spot Mt. Meru (4,566 m) in the distance.
After only 3.5 hours, we arrived at our campsite for the night. We had such a short hike that day because of the extra day we took, otherwise we would have had to continue for at least four more hours... On the way, we passed many small streams and most of the time the water was frozen, even during the day!
Another amazing view of the peak, this time from a yet different angle.
View from our tent... :-)
Day 5: Karanga Campsite (4,200 m) to Barafu Campsite (4,633 m)That hike was not very spectacular and that is the reason why I didn't take a single picture that day. We walked for several ours through inhospitable terrain where very little vegetation could be found. The trail mainly consisted of rocks and ballast but we were lucky to still have no problems with the altitude at all.
We finished the day at the high camp Barafu from where we would attempt to climb to the peak the following night. Our guide warned us that we will most likely not be able to sleep because of the altitude, but not only did I take a nap in the afternoon, I also had no problems at all sleeping at night :-) We had a very early dinner and went to sleep at around 6 pm because we were supposed to get up at 10.30 pm for the final ascent. The summit attempts are usually undertaken at night, because then the scree is frozen together which makes the climbing significantly easier.
Day 6: Barafu Campsite (4,633 m) to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m) to Mweka Campsite (3,102 m)The big day has come! We never really expected to get that far in the first place and didn't have any illusions about reaching the peak (after reading somewhere that only 40% actually get there), but now that we got so far we itching to give it a try.
So we got up at 10.30 pm and put on all the clothes we had. We turned on our flashlights and off we went. Before us lay five to seven hours ascent in the darkness, and believe me that was very challenging indeed. It wasn't even so much the strain to climb up on the scree (where you climb up one step and slide back half a step), but the coldness!!! Believe me, I never felt that cold in my entire life. Worst of all, was the wind which made it nearly impossible to stop and have a break because you would instantly start shivering. Anyways, our water was frozen by that time so there was no more reason for a break...
So we climbed and climbed and I completely lost track of whether we had left the camp one hour ago or rather five hours ago. I seriously considered turning around, but at one point that was not an option any longer since it was nearly impossible to walk the same way back downhill in the dark.
I just continued walking dully without really thinking of anything believing we would never ever get there... And all of a sudden, Matthew said that we were at Stella Point (5,685 m)!!! I knew that Stella Point was at the crater rim only about 30 minutes from the summit and I couldn't believe it all. I expected that we had to hike at least two more hours to Stella Point and all of a sudden we were there and five hours of hiking lay already behind us!!! You cannot believe the motivation and energy that news gave to me - I felt like running up to the summit!
And here we are, at 5,895 meters above sea level, on the highest peak of Africa, one of the highest volcanoes in the world and the highest free-standing mountain in the world!!!! I cannot describe what a feeling that was, but I seriously felt like crying.
I decided to smile instead and even forgot about the cold and took one of my gloves off to take pictures!
And then it got even better: the sun came out! I am not sure whether you can have a more amazing sunrise anywhere in the world. It got warmer and I felt like climbing Mt. Everest the very same day :-)
One of the beautiful glaciers on the summit.
These views really did make you forget about all the coldness, pain and struggle to get up there...
But a long day still lay ahead of us and we first had to go back to our campsite for about three hours, have a small rest, and then continue to Mweka Campsite at only 3,102 m. I was really lucky, I had no problem with altitude sickness at all and didn't even have a small headache at the peak. But of course, we paid a price for that and believe me, drinking four to six liters each day if you are not thirsty at all and your only options are freezing cold water, hot water or hot water with milk powder is a challenge!
As expected, going down was a pain since it really hurts in your knees and ankles and you have to pay a lot of attention to not fall down (and that is not easy after getting up at 10.30 pm and more or less being hiking ever since then...).
But, of course, we eventually got there!
I should have not taken off my shoes... After coming down from the summit, I already noticed that my fingers were swollen like never before and, of course, the same thing has happened to my toes and all of a sudden my good old hiking boots were too small. I had loads of big blisters on every foot and did not know how I should possibly be able to walk the remaining hours the next day. But thankfully, Mathew again saved me and created this bandage out of the only things we had left (all tissues and toilet paper was used up by now...).
My toes are actually still bothering me now, more than three weeks after the summit and it seems I had some frostbites... Fortunately, they did not turn black and all toes are still connected to the feet, but they still do feel numb. I have to admit that my equipment was not the best and contrary to people who planned the trip for half a year already and were equiped with chemical heating pads for feet, hands and back as well as other stuff, I only had the very basic things (like a pair of Jeans :-)).
Day 7: Mweka Campsite (3,102 m) to Mweka Gate (1,649 m)
Day 7 is supposedly an easy and short day. However, it seemed to us as if the descent would never end... I had to walk in sandals since my swollen feet didn't fit into my hiking boots anymore. I guess we were just tired from the last six days of hiking, ten nights in tents, seven days without a shower and the prospect of three days in planes :-)
We eventually made it, rushed back to the hostel in Arusha, took a shower, packed our stuff and off we went to fly to Dar Es Salaam the same night.
